Copper metal is commonly used in various electrical and mechanical applications due to its relatively high electrical and thermal conductivity. However, copper metal is very ductile, which limits its use in mechanical and structural applications. Furthermore, copper metal tends to corrode and oxidize over time, thereby limiting its application in various reactive environments.
Copper-carbon composites have been developed in an effort to improve upon the thermal, mechanical and chemical properties of copper metal. Copper-carbon composites are formed by mechanically introducing carbon to copper metal, thereby imparting the resulting copper-carbon composite material with certain advantages (e.g., improved thermal conductivity) over pure copper metal. For example, copper-carbon composites have been prepared using copper and carbon powder metallurgy techniques, as well as by heating and kneading copper and carbon together.
However, like copper metal, copper-carbon composites have physical properties that limit their usefulness in certain applications. For example, the carbon in copper-carbon composites phase separates from the copper metal when the composite is melted, thereby limiting the usefulness of copper-carbon composites in high temperature applications.
Accordingly, those skilled in the art continue to seek improvements in the properties of copper metal.